MLL News and Notes: July 27

Players of the Week

Offensive Player of the Week
Ned Crotty, Rochester Rattlers

Crotty earned the first Offensive Player of the Week honor of his career while leading the Rattlers to their second straight win, a 15-8 victory over the Denver Outlaws on Saturday night. He scored all four of his goals in the first half as the Rattlers built a commanding 9-3 lead over the Outlaws. He also contributed a pair of assists while recording his third “hat trick” of the season. With 21 goals and 38 points, Crotty ranks second in the MLL.

Defensive Player of the Week
Drew Adams, Long Island Lizards

Adams, who was named as the Defensive Player of the Week for the second week in a row, made 16 saves while helping the Long Island Lizards to a 15-8 victory over the defending MLL champion Chesapeake Bayhawks on Saturday night. While holding the Bayhawks to a season-low eight goals, Adams made 10 of his 16 saves in the second half as Long Island outscored Chesapeake by 9-2 after the intermission.

Cascade Rookie of the Week
Grant Catalino, Rochester Rattlers

Catalino recorded his second “hat trick” of the season while helping the Rattlers to their 15-8 victory over the Outlaws on Saturday night. He scored three goals, including a pair of two-point goals, and added an assist in the victory as Rochester swept the season series against Denver. With 18 points in just five games, Catalino is tied for second on the Rattlers’ scoring list. He has scored 13 goals, including three two-point goals, with two assists.

MLL News and Notes

PLAYOFF POTENTIAL: The Boston Cannons and the Denver Outlaws can clinch a berth for the 2011 Sports Authority MLL Championship Weekend this week. While the Cannons can earn a play-off spot with either a win or a Long Island loss, the Outlaws need to win and get a loss from the Lizards in order to clinch a postseason spot this week. The complete list of play-off scenarios can be found on page 5 of this week’s MLL release.

NO ROOM FOR ERROR: While two teams can secure a play-off berth this week, the Rochester Rattlers will be eliminated from consideration for the Sports Authority MLL Championship Weekend with a loss against Long Island on Thursday night. The Rattlers have won the last two games while limiting the Denver Outlaws to eight goals in each game.

ON SECOND THOUGHT: The Boston Cannons scored eight goals in the second quarter of their 16-12 loss against the Hamilton Nationals on Saturday night, matching the highest scoring quarter by a team this season (Denver had eight goals in the third quarter against Hamilton on May 14). The Cannons lead the MLL in second quarter goals, scoring 32 times in nine games.

AW, SHOOT: In all three games last week, the team that won the game was outshot by its opponent. Long Island was limited to just 38 shots by the Bayhawks in its 15-8 win on Saturday night while Boston held a slim 44-43 advantage over the Nationals, who won by a 16-12 margin. Meanwhile, Rochester was outshot by a 38-34 margin against Denver in the Rattlers’ 15-8 win.

CENTURY MARK: Boston Cannons midfielder Paul Rabil scored the 100th goal of his MLL career in the Cannons’ 16-12 loss against Hamilton on Saturday night. He scored the milestone goal with one minute left in the second quarter on an unassisted marker past goalkeeper Scott Rodgers. Rabil, who has scored at least 20 goals in each of his four MLL seasons, leads the MLL with 39 points and has scored 22 goals.

NEARING A MILESTONE: After winning 22 of 27 face-offs against the Long Island Lizards on Saturday night, Chesapeake Bayhawks midfielder Alex Smith enters this week needing just 14 face-off wins to become the third player in MLL history to earn 1,000 face-off victories. In his fifth MLL season, the former University of Delaware midfielder has won 59.1 per cent of his face-off attempts. He leads the MLL with 134 face-off wins in nine games this year.

OVER THE HILL: During the last two games, Long Island Lizards goalkeeper Drew Adams has recorded 40 saves while allowing 18 goals as the Lizards have defeated Boston and Chesapeake. After a career-high 24 saves against Boston on July 16, the former Penn State netminder had 16 saves, including 10 in the second half, as the Lizards held Chesapeake to a season-low eight goals. The two-time reigning MLL Defensive Player of the Week, Adams ranks second in the MLL with a .554 save percentage while posting a 12.15 goals against average, which ranks third in the league.

POWERFUL PLAY: Saturday’s match-up between the Boston Cannons and the Denver Outlaws will feature the top two power-play units in Major League Lacrosse. Both teams are tied for the MLL lead with 15 power-play goals while Denver leads the MLL with a .395 power play percentage.

BRODIE 500: With 13 ground balls in the Nationals’ 16-12 victory over Boston last Saturday, Hamilton Nationals defenseman Brodie Merrill became the second player in MLL history to reach 500 ground balls for their career. Entering Saturday’s game against Chesapeake, Merrill has tallied 507 ground balls in his seven-year career. Paul Cantabene is the all-time leader with 538 ground balls.

30 ROCK: With his two-point goal in the Bayhawks’ 12-11 overtime victory over Hamilton on July 16, Chesapeake midfielder Kyle Dixon became the second player in MLL history to tally 30 career two-point goals. Dixon, who has scored five goals with six assists this year, needs three more two-point goals to tie the all-time record held by Roy Colsey.

HOME RUN: Chesapeake Bayhawks attackman Danny Glading has scored 15 of his 17 goals this season at home. In addition, 25 of his 31 points have come in the Bayhawks’ four home games. Glading is enjoying his best season in the MLL this year as he is tied for third in the MLL with 31 points while leading the Bayhawks with 17 goals and 14 assists.

HIGH FIVE: Hamilton midfielder Brett Bucktooth scored a season-high five goals in the Nationals’ 16-12 victory over the Boston Cannons on Saturday night. He had scored just seven goals in his first six games before exploding for his first “hat trick” since May 29, 2010 when he scored four goals against the Denver Outlaws. The five goals were the most scored by Bucktooth since June 30, 2007 when he tallied six goals against New Jersey while he was playing for the Boston Cannons.

SWEET 16: Rochester Rattlers attackman Ned Crotty has tallied a point in 16 straight games after scoring four goals with two assists in the Rattlers’ 15-8 victory over Denver on Saturday night. Crotty, who ranks second in the MLL with 38 points, has recorded two or more points in each of his last 14 games, including a career-high seven points against Hamilton on June 10.